Fighting in France

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 108, 30 September 1914, Page 5

Fighting in France

cbow3i friscb defeated. his force retreats in disorder. Germans aggressive ox the [ aisnb. must break through to paris. allies' left rbpels the attack. Paris, September 28. It now tranßpirea that General von Kluck's misfortunes were due to the defeat of the Crown Prince, who was badly beaten, the main body of his army retiring 48 kilometres (25 mileß) on the nights of September 6 and 7. The retirement was equivalent to a rout. At tho time the French official dispatches claimed a drawn battle, whereas they had actually smashed the flower of the German military power. In the plan of the German operations, the path promising the greatest glory was reserved for the Crown Prince. When General von Kluck's Uhlans were at Chantilly the Crown Prince's main body was at a distance of 200 kilometres (125 miles) and was ordered to advance with all speed. The battle, intended to brush aside the French, south-west of Verdun, began at daybreak on the 6lh, and continued with unprecedented fury until daybreak on the 7th. The French guns proved their undeniable superiority. The Crown Prince's losses, advancing on a forty-mile front, are estimated at 20,- ! 000 killed and 80,000 wounded. The mysterious German retreat on the night of September fl can only be explained in one of two ways. First, there may have been a sortie from Verdun which, while the German main force was heavily engaged, would have caused havoc in any army, or second, there was a breakdown in the army transport service. In that case, after the enormous expenditure 01 ammunition on the 6th, tho Crown Prince's army would have been obliged to retreat or be captured. The circumstances of the precipitate flight support the latter theory. The Crown Prince retreated in fighting order to save the remnants of the crippled army from completo destruction. Ilia withdrawal compelled Generals von Kluek and von Buclow to execute the same manoeuvres, hence the battle on the Oise and the subsequent fighting. Eye-witnesses, summing up their impressions of the battle front at the Aisne say that two or three days' brilliant sunshine, after a week of mud and water, proved a God-send to the Allies. The great effort to drive back the German right wing continued with unabated fury and General von Kluck haß been compelled to retreat inch by inch. Both sides are apparently determined to fight the issue to a definite conclusion in tho north-east of France, scorning Alsace and Lorraine for the time being.

A leading sfatcsman says the consensus of opinion is that a decisive victory can only be won by the belligerent who is able to pash his trospß a* a wedge into some vulnerable point of the enemy's line. Before the arrival of General von Kluck's recent reinforcements, French aviatora lad detected large quantities of railway stock concentrated at the eastern depots. As there was no similar asseffiblaga in the west, the commanders were assured that the Germans intended to hold the line o? the Aisne and the Oiae. It is evident that the Germans consider the region of the Allies' left the best road to Paris and intend to make another attempt to gain it. Meanwhile they are continuing to engage the British and throwing the greater »weight on the French left. The German pressure caused the French left to yield slightly, though the ground won was hotly contestedi 1 The position has since improved and the enemy has again been pushed tack with severe losses.

FIERCE GUERILLA FIGHTLNC. STRENUOUS HOSTILITIES L\ LOR- ' RAINI. Pari!, September 68. After the battle on September Zi, both armies in Lorraine dug themselves lines of trenches, which they still hold. A guerilla warfare has since been eonducted with pitiless ferocity. The fighting surged between Nancy and the frontier. The whole country-side was dotted with so-called Villcs Vortcs which the Germans built or destroyed l»y shellfire. The Germans at Cereaeil surrounded {•00 Chasseurs m»der the command of General do la Chapelle. The Germans (ircd volleys, and 25* Chasseurs, escaping, retook the jesition, leaving 1000 Germans dead. The. French recaptured Avrincourt without casualties The commander left a screen of troopß before the enemy's centre and lour batteries kept up s r e while the main boiy eariied ost a flank attack. The German* abandoned the position und crossed the frontier. Lieutenant Verlin lan bce» mentio»rd in General Joffro's dispatehes for leading M reooniioitrers tin miles ahead of the positions on the Oisc and obtaicinc information which eompellcd the retreat of thousands cf «erm«us. The enemy approached YerVm, who spread his men on the edge ct a wood. A rapid fire was kept up, the frenchmen movies; from plaoe to place, in order to appear more uamorons. The fieimans did not (liter the wood, and »t nightfall Verlii ''id the rewaining thirteca cf hie men I back to the Trench line.". | 'fnwfhi by experience, the French penjo»»l atwff »as lorbidde.» bayonet attacks »?{ eupcortod iy elfectire artillery f r». The Saraans ire not content with a eiagla trtnrf, Sat ent tut **tl t»we

lines of defencos, each large enough to cover the whole force. The Germans continue to use mass formation attack. A British" officer states that the. Germans have lost 4000 men since the attack last week on this account.

RED CROSS FIRED ON. tiRMY MEDICAL CORPS FORCED TO FIGHT. HEAVY LOSSES AT HANDS OF GERMANS. Times and Sydney Sun Services. Received 29, <i p.m. London, September 20. A wounded bearer, attached to the Army Medical Corps, states that Germans fired on the field hospital. Every man snatched a gun, and the fun commenced. Four hundred Germans Biirrounded them, and attacked for eight hours continuously. Finally it was decided that the only chance was to cut through the Germans under a. storm of bullets. Four out of 50 hospital men escaped. Another story states that after one , encounter, when the nurses emerged to rescue the wounded, the Germans opened a fusillade bv night and played searchlights, preventing the removal of the wounded. ,

SITUATION UNCHANGED.

GERMANS AGALN REPULSED. Received 29, 10.40 p.m. Paris, September 28. According to an official communique, issued to-day, the general situation is unchanged. Comparative calm exists along the front, except between the Aisne and Argonne, where further violent attacks have been repulsed. SITUATION STILL FAVORABLE. SLIGHT ADVANCE IN THE CENTRE. Received 30. 12 40 a.m. Paris, September 29. > A communique states that the situation on the French left is favorable. "Our troops in the centre successfully resisted violent attacks. "We have progressed slightly on the heights of the Mouse. A dense fog at Woevre suspended operations. "The situation in Lorraine, and Vosges is unchanged." BATTLE OF THE AISNE. AN UNFOTUNATE, INCIDENT. TURCOS ABANDON THEIR TRENCHES. GERMANS SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITY Received 30, 12.5 a.m. Paris, September 29. A British wounded officer states that during the battle of tie Aisne there was one unfortunate incident. Some Turcos, becoming demoralised, abandoned the trenches, and the Germans, occupying them, opened an enfilading fire on the Allies' trenches, inflicting heavy losses. An attack by dismounted cavalry finally displaced the Germans. Mechanical transport makes the re- , victualling of the firing line compara- | tively easy. British officers and men are faring alike, with bully-beef, - biscuits, and tinned butter.

THE RHEIMS TRAGEDY. A FRENCH DENIAL. ' Paris, September 28. j General .Toffre denies that tho commandant at Rheims ever placed an observation post in the Cathedral. * BATTLEFIELD STORIES. London, September 28. A party of Scots Greys crossing the Aisne were heavily shelled from a wood. The Grenadier Guards, who preceded them, fixed bayonets and charged tfle wood, and captured six guns, despite a murderous machino fire. After the pontoon bridge had been twice destroyed, an airman located the German guns, enabling them to be silenced, and the crossing of the river was completed. Times and Sydney Sun Services. London, September 28. A French officer writes: "Tho mother of this war is petrol. In the war everything is done by machinery, and the victory is to tho man who has the most petrol. The array crawls on its etomach, and the stooiaah depends »» the petrol supply." The wife of a, former Senator of ths Department of the Aisne *ontinuea to act instead of the Mayor oi Soissons. When the officials fled, Bhe took charge of the police, fire station, and hospital, and, aided by the Bishop of Soissoas, ran the town throughout the Germans' occupation. v BOMB-DROPPING AJROPLANB. PABIS AVENGED. Reeeived 30, 1.35 a.m. Paris, September SS. It is reverted that the aeroplane which bombed j»,ri* on Suiclaj w»s brought down nt Mont Geron, after dropping bombs »pom a irai» «r,rryJng wounded. A fragment of tto shell blew of the aviator's head. Tfc» «a««tkly Meets*; of *1» "W.G.T.U. will b« held c» W«Uee<Uy »«t,, ftqpieaker 3», m t*e Good T«np)*r Lsd£*< room, at 3 iiJ*. Th» l«r. A. B. Oha*peH is it jjir» • tea BvianW folk «a Woraei's Mhawal it«M,